The Issue Is Idolatry

Today, I want to take a break from talking about statistics, and get back into one of my pet issues: worship. I found a recording of an N. T. Wright lecture he gave at Calvin College back in 2002 about recovering Christian worship. It was a very good theological discussion of sin, eschatological vision, and worship renewal. The last 15 minutes of the one-hour lecture were pure gold.

The gist of Wright’s argument is that the issue which hounds us is not just sin generally, but the central sin of idolatry. Our state of Sin is that of rebellion against our Creator – not properly submitting to the God who deserves all worship – and this state of Sin leads us to all sorts of individual sins. Going back to the creation story, we see the serpent tempting Adam and Eve with the lie that they could be like God; that God was keeping something special from them. In the end, the man and woman no longer wanted to worship God, but they wanted to be God themselves. Satan himself wants to usurp his Creator, and it is for this that he was cast out of the presence of God. This is the sin.

Musing About Music

I certainly don’t claim to be an expert on music. I can’t read it at all, but I’ve been thinking about how we use it, and am always asking the “why?” question. I want to know why we do things in a certain way.

If you hang around me long enough, you’ll notice that I don’t typically use the words contemporary and traditional in relation to worship. It seems to me that these words have come to refer to specific forms of worship music, and do not address adequately the larger question of proper worship. Contemporary typically refers to modern (post-1970’s) praise music, and traditional is used to refer to hymns.

The argument over music isn’t helpful in the big picture because musical style isn’t the most important question no matter how we feel about it. No matter our opinions. Part of my problem with modern worship is its obsession with music as the expression of good worship. When someone asks “Does church X have good worship?” What he normally means is “Does church X have good music?” Maybe it’s just me, but this puts an emphasis on music that didn’t exist in the Church for most of its history, and seems out of balance now. I contend that this is an expression of our revivalistic ideals, and is almost entirely a modern development.

What It Takes To Get ‘Em

This post is a follow-up to my post about Zeitgeist and how it affects us without us knowing it.)

When I was in college, I worked for two summers as a pastoral intern. The church where I worked was between pastors, and hired a kind and retired pastor named Jimmy to fill the pulpit as the interim preacher. I loved Jimmy. He was an old country boy from the coal fields of West Virginia. He was intelligent, but mostly self-taught. He loved to laugh and never seemed to take himself too seriously. We would sit in Tuesday morning staff meetings, which he didn’t lead, and I didn’t have much of value to add, and he was constantly passing me notes and playing jokes on people. I was trying to be serious and impress the other pastors, and Jimmy didn’t care. He was wiser than me.

Christianity Today Gleanings: Modern Hymn Writers Revive Lost Art with Surprising Success

The Gettys have written some great music. I’m glad to see they are still at it, and have a real sense for what it takes to get a whole congregation to truly worship through music together.

Similar to hymns such as “Amazing Grace” or “Be Thou My Vision,” the song (“In Christ Alone”) makes people want to sing along.

That’s a lost art, said Mark Hosny, artistic director of the National Praise and Worship Institute at Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville.

Newer Christian music often makes the band or lead singer sound good but doesn’t engage the congregation. That’s missing the point, Hosny said.

“A lot of today’s melodies are not singable. That’s why they don’t stick,” he said.

Hosny recently attended a Getty concert at the famed Ryman Auditorium, which featured their hymns as well as gospel songs and traditional Irish music. Everyone was singing along, he said.

That’s what hymns are supposed to do, said Dave Clark, director of creative development, publishing and A&R for Nashville-based Lillenas Publishing. They make space for people to join in.

“There is a familiarity in hymns — that even if you are hearing it for the first time, you feel like you know it,” he said.

Christianity Today Gleanings: Modern Hymn Writers Revive Lost Art with Surprising Success.

Worship In The Alternate Society

In her book, A Royal Waste Of Time, author Marva Dawn lays out a vision for Christian worship. I read this book when I was in seminary, but recently picked it up again. Like so many things I read in seminary, I really didn’t give this book the attention it deserves.

I want to give you a quote from the book, and then I want to comment.

He Is Born!

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.” (Isaiah 9:6–7, NIV84)

Today we celebrate not just the birth of a baby, but the Incarnation of God the Son. Eternally existent, co-equal with the Father, by whom, through whom, and for whom all things were made. In Him are all things held together. He sits on the throne of David already reigning, but not yet returning. All authority has been given to Him, and by Him there will be justice.

But all this is for tomorrow. Today we remember that He came. We remember that He fulfilled the promises of God to us. We remember that He was and is what we are not. We remember that in Him lies all for which we hope, and in Him rests eternity.

Almighty God, who hast given us thy only-begotten Son to take our nature upon him, and as at this time to be born of a pure virgin: Grant that we, being regenerate and made thy children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by thy Holy Spirit; through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Spirit ever, one God, world without end. Amen.

No Creed But The Bible? (Repost from the Jesus Creed blog)

I came across this today, and in light of my post concerning the use of the word “catholic” in the recitation of the Apostles’ Creed, I thought this was interesting. Scot McKnight is reviewing and summarizing the book The Creedal Imperative  by Carl Trueman concerning many Evangelicals’ aversion to the affirmation of the creeds and why we need to move beyond this.

Here’s how McKnight summarizes Trueman…

Lions, Tigers, and Catholic, Oh My!

As a kid growing up in free church Evangelicalism we never talked about the great creeds of the Church. As least, I don’t remember it coming up. In fact, I’ve been in the Church my entire life, and I never heard of the Apostles’ or Nicene creeds until college. Even then, we talked about them only briefly, and skirted on passed them as though they were really irrelevant for us today. It wasn’t until my seminary days that I can recall actually reading them and studying their historical context.

Since then, I’ve come to view the creeds as critically important to the spiritual formation of all Christians. More than that, I now accept the Apostles’ Creed as an early summary of the gospel message itself. (Compare it with 1 Corinthians 15:1-8, 20-28 and Romans 1:1-5 where in both places, when he is giving a specific recap of the gospel, Paul gives statements that are remarkably similar to the Creed. Compare it with the various sermons in Acts, and you will see the pattern there as well.) I recite the Apostles’ Creed everyday as part of my devotional practice, and we’ve taught it to our children. The Creed reminds me of the Good News that saves, and the truths by which I live. It also serves as a reminder of the core – and most critical – beliefs of Christianity.

Bill Blankschaen on Worship Music

Yesterday, a blog post from Bill in the Blank was circulating Facebook, and I thought I would re-post some of it. Bill is bemoaning the state of what passes for worship, specifically music, in some (most?) Evangelical churches. You can read the entire post here, but here are his main points:

As best I can sort through my own muddled and messy thoughts, I think there are three things that really bother me about the worship music in many Evangelical Christian churches today:

Say Something That Matters

There are a few things I’ve learned since being married. Actually, I’ve learned a lot of things since being married, and most of those lessons have come the hard way. One of the things I’ve learned is that your praises and expressions of love to your spouse are more powerful and meaningful when they are specific. My wife loves it when I tell her I love her, but my expression of love is more powerful when I name specific things about her that I love and admire. To say specific details means that I’ve thought about her, and have taken the time to say something particular and special to her. When I say to her, “I love and admire you because of your compassion, your caring, the love you express for others, your honesty, your character, your love for Jesus Christ, and your intelligence.” When I say to her, “I love you”, I’ve said something good. When I say, “I love __________________ about you,” I’ve said something thoughtful, meaningful, and powerful.